This invention relates to a novel process and apparatus for explosively dispersing particles of high explosives into the atmosphere to form a high explosive-air bomb.
Devices for explosively dispersing non-explosive substances into the atmosphere, such as pesticides, anti-personnel agents, etc., are well known. Such devices usually contain a tubular burster charge positioned on the axis of a cylindrical container and surrounded by the powdered substance to be dispersed, which on firing of the burster charge is forced outwardly to rupture the thin container walls and is dispersed into the atmosphere. A similar arrangement is also employed in liquid fuel filled munitions for dispersing the fuel, e.g., propylene oxide, into the atmosphere as an aerosol cloud of fine liquid droplets to produce a fuel-air explosive (FAE) bomb, which is detonated by a second, delayed initiator in known manner. If a similar arrangement is attempted for dispersing a particulate high explosive (HE), e.g., RDX (1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazocyclohexane), the high explosive will explode inside the container rather than being dispersed into the atmosphere to form an aerosol bomb. The basic reason for the failure is that the particulate high explosive charge is detonated by the severe conditions resulting from the explosion of the central burster charge required for dispersing the particulate high explosive.
A high explosive dust-air bomb would be advantageous as compared to a conventional liquid fuel-air explosive (FAE) bomb, due to the much higher energy output of the high explosive. There are no known devices which employ the technique of explosive dissemination for the dispersal of HE dust. At present HE dust must be dispersed into the atmosphere by spraying or impulsively loading a holder having a thin layer of HE material. These techniques cannot be readily packaged into a warhead.